4.15.2016

Angry Reader of the Week: A.J. Calomay

"Nope, I'm not the guy who hosted 106 & Park."

Hey, everybody! Welcome to another edition of the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is A.J. Calomay.

Filipino-American. Producer/Editor. Beekeeper. Hmm, broad question here, Phil. This is what I always struggle with when I have to fill out an "About Me" section in a social media profile. Do I get silly or straightforward in case there's a potential corporate sponsor out there for my extravagant lifestyle and career. I'll go ahead and copy and paste my brief @ajxy Instagram bio. "Xylophone Films. Community. Lumpia 2. Mr Robot. Legends of Tomorrow. YouEatNow. Lakers. @halfthesun_annab. snaps: ajxy. http://www.facebook.com/youeatnowpopup."

Where are you?

That's a very common text message I get when I'm trying to meet up with friends at Staples Center or at a film fest party. But to answer your question I'm right here for you, my friends. Right here in Los Angeles.

Where are you from?

West Los Angeles. Which usually elicits the response "ugh westside traffic" or "hey Brentwood kid huh?" I'm born and raised in West LA, or near where the 10 meets the 405, or Sawtelle Japantown where Tsujita is, or more specifically Pico and Bundy by Taco Bell and The Arsenal. See you all there this weekend. How did I end up there in such a heavy Filipino community? :) (There's actually a good number of Filipino families here that I've known since I was young. Shout out to St. Joan of Arc Elementary School) I'd have to thank my Mom who landed here from the Philippines in 1969 to work at UCLA as a nurse (of course), and she met my Dad in the area, they got married and bought a house here in 1973 for a price of that new Tesla Model 3.

What do you do?

I work full time as an assistant editor in scripted television, DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Last summer was incredible with the first season Mr. Robot and before that it was a four-year run on Covert Affairs on USA Network as well. Don't mean to give you my resume but I've also worked at MTV News, Disney.com, commercial editorial, etc. 16 years in post-production! My other life and to balance that out is doing independent filmmaking, producing and editing through my small company Xylophone Films. A lot of my work has been in collaboration with Patricio Ginelsa of Kid Heroes Productions with our music videos and now our big Lumpia 2 feature film project. Through Xylophone I've also produced videos for Fandango and Xbox, featurettes, behind-the-scenes of movies type of pieces. The last few years my Xylophone team has produced videos at Comic-Con (56 featurettes in four days!). I've also directed hip hop documentaries with my buddy Paul Dang early in my career on artists from Stones Throw Records, Dudley Perkins and Wildchild of The Lootpack. Fun fact: Wildchild's son is Miles on blackish.

What are you all about?

Community collaboration. Diversity. Good food. Community empowerment through providing opportunities for people to tell stories. Late night ramen. Helping people become the best they can be. Chicken adobo. I'm almost continuing my peer counseling work which I started at UCLA. Lakeshow. But doing this all in my own style, in my lane, in my role as this editor/producer/connector or whatever it's evolved to. Nick Van Exel. I want to be about action and let work speak for itself. Pork sinigang. I've been hashtag blessed to meet and work with some amazing people. I want to continue to work with my friends and enjoy this ride, this process

What makes you angry?

Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell. But yeah, what makes me angry is when I see people left out, when I see people alone. Everyone deserves to share their story.